Daily Times

The G20 summit held in New Delhi on 9th and 10th of September, 2023 is being hailed by the Indian government as a political success for PM Modi whose BJP party is contesting next Indian elections in year 2024. It was the 18th summit of G20 heads of state/ government which was attended by the leaders from all member states less President Xi of China and President Putin of Russia. Both were represented by their Premier and Foreign Minister respectively. The joint statement dished out post conference mentioned about some new measures that the member states agreed upon, yet it obviated few facts that has crept in myopia in the overall outcome.

G20 was formed in year 1999 in response to the financial crisis in Asia and was aimed to work collectively for resolving economic and political issues affecting the population of this area. The overall objective was to bring betterment to their lives. They are EU plus 19 countries who account for 85% of the world’s economic output and more than 75% of world’s trade with two-third of global population. Every year one member state becomes the President of G20, who sets the agenda for the summit. India became the President in December 2022.

With the purpose of G20 in focus holding of summit this year in India was itself worth questioning. India is a country that is labelled with gross human rights violations across its swath. Its notion of secularism has been busted badly especially in recent years under the BJP led government and fact of the matter is that the minorities living inside India have been deprived of their right to live a peaceful life. Be it Muslims, Sikhs, Christians, Buddhists, Kukis or Dalits all are subjected to state sponsored torture and vandalism. They are unfortunately not even allowed to practice their religious rites independently. The malpractices that Indian minorities are facing today nullify the sheer notion of secularism; acclaimed as a social strength by the Indian political leadership for years and years.

The G20 summit in India was an important opportunity to address the sheer atrocities against the minority communities in the country. Yet, it was lost as India submerged the occasion with the so called cultural extravaganza that the Indian government had put up.

Although the international community is critical of human rights violations in India quite often yet the joint statement didn’t mention about it. It was in fact a better opportunity for all the leaders to talk to the Indian PM on the subject directly. PM Modi held meetings with the state leaders less Canadian PM which was a noticeable fact. The relations between India and Canada are on a downward trend since last few months on the issue of referendum by the Sikh community in Canada that the Indian government has been cynical about, while the human rights violations in India that the Canadian PM has been quite critical of. President Biden was also pressured by the human rights groups to talk to the Indian PM on gross human rights violations in his country who although stated that during one on one talks he did, yet there was no such mention in the joint statement released later.

The salient points that the joint statement of this year’s summit included condemnation of human sufferings and adverse repercussions of the conflict in Ukraine on global food and energy security, inclusion of African Union (a group of 55 countries) and a new economic corridor India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC). The IMEC is an arrangement to link India with the Middle East via sea and further Middle East to Europe via rail network. The announcement of this corridor has two connotations; one that albeit being late in time and space, it is a counter to China’s BRI hence part of the overall US Indo-Pacific Strategy and other substantiating the US efforts for recognition of Israel by the Gulf states especially KSA. As a counter to the BRI it should be considered as a productive step as it may not be able to surpass BRI or pose a significant challenge but obviously will help removing snags in the BRI, if there are any, as a spin off to the competitive environment it might generate. The important feature of IMEC is the rail network joining Middle East and Europe as India is already connected to the Gulf and Europe by sea. If the rail network materializes it will shorten the route for India to access Europe which it has been trying vehemently for quite some time via Iran and the International North-South Trade Corridor (INSTC). Nevertheless, it’s a vision which is to be brought to reality in how much time is someone’s guess. But the important aspect is the spirit behind; to bring goodness to the people of these countries, which is obviously ambiguous given the state of social and religious liberties that the minorities in India have been ripped off.

The G20 summit in India was an important opportunity to address the sheer atrocities against the minority communities in the country. Yet, it was lost as India submerged the occasion with the so called cultural extravaganza that the Indian government had put up. Sadly, the participants remained engrossed in such profligate activities and did not even realize that they were there to represent the humanity especially those under Hindutva subjugation. The G20 summit therefore took a myopic view of the financial and political situation prevalent in Asia this time.

The writer can be reached at reema.asim81@gmail.com.